Position summary:
The Major Gifts Officer assists donors in achieving their philanthropic goals and ambitions through a connection with the Rainforest Alliance. Reporting to the Senior Director, Individual Giving, the Major Gift Officer implements strategies to secure major gifts ($25,000+) from donors.
The Major Gift Officer collaborates closely with the Development team to ensure alignment with overall fundraising goals and initiatives. Responsibilities include building and managing a portfolio of major gift prospects, cultivating relationships through personalized communications and engagement events, preparing, and presenting compelling proposals, and closing major gifts. Additionally, the Major Gift Officer engages in donor stewardship activities, including recognition events, personalized communications, and ongoing relationship management to ensure donor retention and long-term support. The successful candidate is a seasoned fundraising professional with a demonstrated track record of managing a portfolio and closing gifts from individuals, families, and family foundations.
Responsibilities:

• Manage and implement a moves management system for a portfolio of major donors, including identification and qualification through research, cultivation, briefing, request for support, and prompt follow up, stewardship, and recognition;
• Develop and implement a comprehensive strategy for all donors and prospects within their portfolio to raise awareness of RA’s mission and broaden RA’s funding base;
• Prepare donor/prospect meeting briefings and event briefings for Leadership and Board members, specifically Board Committees;
• Develop and implement events and activities for major gift donors to engage with others and discover new prospects for cultivation;
• Maintain up-to-date revenue projections toward annual revenue goals;
• Track and report relationship management activity using Salesforce and utilize reports in Salesforce to report progress against cultivation, stewardship, and fundraising goals;
• Develop and maintain strong collaborative working relationships with other team members; and
• Perform related duties as assigned.

Qualifications:

• College degree required;
• Minimum of 5 years of successful, demonstrated experience in major and planned gift fundraising, preferably in conservation, climate, or environment;
• Strong written, oral, and presentation communication skills, and have experience in developing clear and concise funding proposals;
• Proven success in meeting financial goals for major gift giving, securing five-figure gifts and above. Experience in cold calling, developing cultivation and solicitation strategies.
• Strong interpersonal skills and the ability to build and maintain relationships with major gift donors and various collaborators, customers, partners, and team members; and
• Experience with Development databases, preferably Salesforce.